기녀가 서울 시정의 일정한 공간에서 춤과 음악, 그리고 성(性)을 판매하는 공간인 기방은 조선전기에는 존재하지 않았던 것으로 보인다. 기방은, 조선전기 기생의 정기적 선상제도(選上制度)가 붕괴하고 난 뒤 17세기 후반 이후에 나타난 것으로 보인다. 임진왜란 이후 기녀 선상제도가 사실상 폐지되자, 국가와 궁중에서 일상적으로 기녀를 동원하는 일이 줄어들자, 부정기적으로 선상된 기녀들 중 일부가 서울에 남아 시정으로 진출하게 되었던 것으로 보인다. 시정에서의 기녀 영업처가 곧 기방이다. 기방의 성립으로 인해 국가와 지배계급뿐만 아니라, 도시의 중간계층들도 기녀의 예능을 향유할 수 있게 되었다.

Once every 3 years, a certain number of women were selected as female entertainers, collectively called `kinyeo`, from women slaves who belonged to local public authorities. The selected women were then referred to Jangakwon in Seoul, where they learned music and dance and, later, mobilized to entertain the loyal family and noble men at banquets. But the regular selection system was abolished after the Korea-Japan war, that is, Imjinwaeran broke out in 1592. As a result, mobilizing kinyeo by the state and the royal court became less frequent than before. Since then, kinyeo was selected irregularly. Some of the selected opened so-called `kibang` in Seoul, which was a facility for entertainment business. Those women who opened kibang in the capital city were collectively called `Seoul kisaeng` who started selling entertaining products like music, dance and even sex. Initially, kinyeos` entertaining talents were only for noble man, that is, the ruling class. But such talents could become enjoyed also by urban people of the middle class as kibangs were opened. This brought dramatic changes in entertainment and music cultures in the late Joseon period.